1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer-assisted vehicle diagnostics and, more specifically, to a system and method of intelligent agent management using an agent interface, for use in vehicle diagnostics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles, and in particular motor vehicles, frequently incorporate monitoring systems that function to monitor the status of various vehicle components. An on-board diagnostic system (OBD) is frequently utilized in monitoring the engine, emissions, transmission or other key vehicle systems. The information obtained by such a monitoring system may be useful in detecting a vehicle condition, such as a malfunction, or other such abnormal operating condition. A key feature of the on-board diagnostic system is the ability to notify the vehicle operator of the detected vehicle condition. Early detection, diagnosis, or notification of a malfunction is important to the continued operation of the vehicle.
While the on-board diagnostic systems work well, they may not provide information regarding causation. Intelligent agent diagnostic systems are known to collect and transfer data within an electronic system that may be relevant to causation. An example of a multi-agent diagnostic system for a vehicle that can detect and isolate a fault is described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/629,035, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The above-described system works well for fault isolation. A system and method of intelligent agent identification is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/282,925, which is incorporated by reference. Agent identification provides security for the ingress and egress of an agent at the vehicle level. Another example of a system and method of intelligent agent management for an intelligent agent system improves the security of the intelligent agent system by searching for a malicious agent using an overseer agent, as is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/411,289, which is incorporated herein by reference. A further example of a system and method of intelligent agent management provides for self-repair of the agent, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/430,382, which is also incorporated herein by reference.